Gyno Girl Presents: Sex, Drugs & Hormones

Dr. Sameena Rahman
  • 5.0 (41)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

As a fierce champion for women empowering women (and the people that love them), GynoGirl provides the knowledge and education to help you advocate for yourself so that you can live your best life! Dr. Sameena Rahman curates a space for exploring hormonal changes, sexual health, and pelvic wellness, while also emphasizing self-love and life improvement. Through collaborations with leading experts and the personal stories of patients, she provides a platform for knowledge-sharing while also addressing healthcare issues that have impaired women’s quality of life.  A board-certified, South-Asian Muslim-American gynecologist who specializes in sex medicine and menopause, Dr. Rahman highlights the influence of religion, culture, racial bias, and societal factors on sexual health experiences.

  1. 4d ago

    From Commands to Purpose: How Gen Z Needs to Be Led | Calle Foster

    Gen Z gets a bad rap for being lazy, but they're actually the most entrepreneurial generation we've ever had. Calle Foster, a leadership coach who spent 12 years in corporate learning and development, explains why that stereotype is costing you as a leader. The real issue? It's how we're leading them. Gen Z was raised in a very different world than previous generations, and that context shaped how they show up at work. When leaders come at them with command and control, they shut down. They internalize it as their fault. They need guides, not controllers. Calle talks about what Gen Z actually responds to: psychological safety, questions instead of orders, and understanding the why behind the work. She also addresses generational trauma—how silence about bodies, fertility, and mental health gets passed down through families and how we can break that cycle. We also dig into how this applies to medicine and residency training, parenting Gen Z kids, and building teams where multiple generations actually respect each other instead of denigrating one another. Highlights: Gen Z shuts down under command and control. Telling is yelling.Gen Z expects emotional availability from leaders because that's how they were parented by Gen X.Vulnerability from leaders creates safety for everyone on the team.Generational silence about bodies and fertility gets passed down.Gen Z has emotional language that's a strength, not a weakness.If women aren't building AI algorithms, we're automating bias into healthcare. If you're a parent, a manager, or an attending working with Gen Z, this episode is for you. The way you lead and communicate shapes how the next generation shows up. My goal is to give you tools to understand your body, your hormones, your relationships—and how to build teams and families where people feel safe enough to actually speak. If you've found this conversation helpful, please subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. And if you're in a leadership position, consider where you might shift from command and control to coaching. Get in touch with Calle: Website Instagram Get in Touch with Me: Website Instagram Youtube Substack

    46 min

  2. Jun 12

    Why AI is Medicine's Future (Not Its Replacement) | Dr. Ami Bhatt

    AI is making people in medicine nervous. Doctors worry it's going to replace them. But Dr. Ami Bhatt, Chief Innovation Officer at the American College of Cardiology and Chair of the FDA Digital Health Advisory Committee, has a different take. She explains what collaborative intelligence actually means and why clinicians shouldn't be scared. We talk about how wearables are giving women the data they need to advocate for themselves when doctors dismiss them. We also get into the bias that's built into AI algorithms and what it means when the technology learns your preferences. Women are adopting AI faster than men. Data is validating symptoms doctors ignore. And understanding how AI works is becoming essential to being a good clinician. This episode is about how technology and medicine can actually work together. Dr. Bhatt and I discuss what the reality of what clinicians face: in 20 minutes with a patient, you're trying to absorb electronic health records, current guidelines, recent research, their life circumstances, and now wearable data. It's impossible for one brain to hold all of that. That's where collaborative intelligence comes in. AI organizes the information so you can use your judgment. It's not thinking for you, it's giving you back time. On the patient side, wearables aren't just gadgets. They're validation. When you feel something is wrong and your data backs it up, that's power. Especially important for women who get dismissed or told it's anxiety when it's actually a real health issue. But there's a catch: algorithms have bias built into them. They learn from your search history, your preferences, what you've looked at before. Understanding those limits is what makes the difference between using AI well and being led in the wrong direction. HighlightsThe freezer analogy: AI is like understanding why your freezer gets ice on food. You have to know how to adjust it or it doesn't work for you.Dr. Rahman's son used ChatGPT to prepare for a doctor appointment and had a whole conversation without her input because he felt validated and knew what to say.Women should be believed, but data gives you evidence when doctors dismiss you.Sleep is the next frontier in wearable tracking, especially during perimenopause and menopause.Good AI governance is infrastructure with guardrails, not over-regulation or no regulation.Health literacy is everything. Patients and clinicians need to understand what technologies actually do and don't do. I hope this episode helps you understand that AI isn't coming to replace your doctor or your nursing team. It's a tool to help them help you better. If you're a clinician listening, don't be afraid to understand how technology works. If you're a patient, trust your body and use the data you have to advocate for yourself. If you've found this episode helpful, please subscribe so you don't miss future conversations about technology, health, and what it means to take care of yourself. Get in Touch with Dr. Bhatt: Website Instagram LinkedIn X Get in Touch with Me: Website Instagram Youtube Substack

    54 min

  3. Jun 5

    Women's Sexual Health Innovation with Sabrina Johnson, CEO of Dari Bioscience

    For decades, men had Viagra. Women were told to relax and have a glass of wine. That imbalance in pharmaceutical innovation is finally changing, but it hasn't been easy. In this episode, I talk with Sabrina Johnson, the founder and CEO of Dare Bioscience the only publicly traded pharmaceutical company focused entirely on women's healthcare. We discuss why the pharmaceutical industry has historically avoided investing in women's sexual health, the stigma and sexism that surrounds female arousal and pleasure, and what it actually takes to develop and bring products to market. Sabrina walks us through the development of Dare to Play, a topical cream for sexual arousal that's coming soon, the science behind how it works, and the extensive clinical trials required to prove safety and efficacy. We also discuss other products in development a probiotic for vaginal health and a once-a-month vaginal ring for menopause with estradiol and progesterone. This is about changing what's possible for women's health. From regulatory hurdles to cultural stigma, the barriers to innovating in women's sexual health are real. In this conversation, we explore how companies can create real world solutions that actually work for women's lives, the importance of rigorous clinical testing, and why investing in women's health matters. We dive into the science, the business side, and how you can support this work. Highlights:Only 1% of private investment in pharmaceutical development goes to companies innovating solely for women which is why there's so little funding and so many gaps.The stigma is real: one NPR station refused to air an interview because Sabrina said the word "vagina" too many times.Dare to Play increases blood flow to genital tissue for sensation and lubrication the same mechanism as Viagra, but in cream form. The major innovation was developing specialized delivery technology to get sildenafil through skin and manufacturing at pharmaceutical grade standards rather than compounding standards.Dare worked with the SEC and NASDAQ to create a direct public offering so anyone can invest with just $250, not just institutional investors. I hope this episode inspires you to think differently about women's health innovation and what's possible when we demand better. If you believe in the work DARE is doing, you can support it. You don't have to donate you can become an investor with as little as $250. All the information on how to do that will be below. Get in touch with Sabrina: Website Become an Investor Instagram LinkedIn TikTok Get in Touch with Me: Website Instagram Youtube Substack

    53 min

  4. May 29

    Anxiety, OCD, and ADHD in Kids with Dr. John Parkhurst

    Kids' mental health looks different now than it did a decade ago. More kids are struggling with anxiety, OCD, and ADHD, and parents are often unsure whether what they're seeing is normal or something that needs professional help. In this episode, Dr. John Parkhurst, a child psychologist at Northwestern, helps us understand what's really happening with kids right now. He explains why anxiety spikes during puberty, how to recognize the difference between typical worry and an anxiety disorder, and what sets anxiety apart from OCD. We also talk about ADHD, executive function, and the treatment options that actually work from therapy to medication to combined approaches. As a child psychologist with expertise in anxiety disorders, he's worked in this field for over a decade and conducts research on how to help primary care physicians better identify and treat mental health challenges in kids. In this episode, we get into the specifics of what anxiety actually looks like, how it differs from OCD, and why the distinction matters for treatment. We also discuss ADHD, the role of hormones during puberty, and what the research shows about which treatments work best. HighlightsAnxiety in kids shows up differently than you might think. It can look like avoidance, freezing, or kids getting reactive and emotional, not just saying they're worried.The difference between anxiety and OCD matters for treatment. Anxiety is a global worry response, while OCD is specific intrusive thoughts paired with compulsions.Anxiety spikes during puberty, with generalized anxiety disorders commonly emerging around ages 8-12.Cognitive behavioral therapy and medication are both effective treatments for anxiety and OCD. Combined treatment often works better than either approach alone.ADHD is harder to treat with therapy alone. Medication is typically more effective, but environmental structure and parenting strategies also matter. If you're seeing signs of anxiety, OCD, or ADHD in your child, remember that these are treatable conditions. Cognitive behavioral therapy and medication are evidence-based options that work. Talk to your pediatrician or seek out a child psychologist who can help you figure out the right approach for your child. Understanding what your child is experiencing is the first step. If you've found this episode helpful, please subscribe so you don't miss upcoming conversations that matter to you and your family. Get in Touch with John: Luries Northwestern Get in Touch with Me: Website Instagram Youtube Substack

    59 min

  5. May 22

    Trauma, Lost Desire, and ART: A Breakthrough Therapy with Brooke Bralove

    Trauma shows up in unexpected ways. Chronic pelvic pain. Lost desire. The inability to tolerate a pelvic exam. These aren't always about what happened last week sometimes they're about what happened decades ago. In this episode, I talk with Brooke Bralove, a psychotherapist and sex therapist, about Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) a treatment that works differently than traditional talk therapy. Instead of processing trauma over years, ART can resolve it in 1-5 sessions using rapid eye movement and image replacement. Brooke walks through what actually happens in an ART session and shares patient stories showing how the therapy works on pelvic pain, OCD, and birth trauma. We also talk about desire in long-term relationships and what it takes to rebuild intimacy when spontaneous desire is no longer part of the picture. HighlightsART (Accelerated Resolution Therapy) can resolve trauma in 1-5 sessions using rapid eye movement and image replacement instead of years of talk therapy.Childhood trauma often shows up decades later as chronic pelvic pain, sexual pain, or the inability to tolerate intimacy.Birth trauma and medical trauma can be processed with ART without having to relive the experience over and over.In long-term relationships, you may need to grieve the loss of spontaneous desire before you can build responsive desire.Masturbation is often the most important homework in sex therapy because understanding your own body is essential to communicating what you need. I hope you enjoyed this episode. As we keep learning more about trauma and midlife, we find that we're all dealing with some kind of struggle. By continuing this show, it's my way of helping you learn and find answers. My goal is to help more women in midlife and women with sexual dysfunction. If you've been enjoying this podcast, please subscribe so that more people can find us. Get in Touch with Brooke: Website Facebook Instagram Tik Tok LinkedIn Get in Touch with Me: Website Instagram Youtube Substack

    1h 7m

  6. May 15

    Teaching Anatomical Language, AI in Medicine, and Why Three OB-GYNs Stopped Delivering Babies with Dr. Meredith McClure and Dr. Ashley Fuller

    Women's health is a team sport. That's something we've all learned the hard way—not in residency, but years later when we realized how much we weren't taught about vulvovaginal health. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Meredith McClure from Dallas and Dr. Ashley Fuller from Seattle. They co-host the Labialogic podcast and both specialize in treating the conditions that most doctors either miss or dismiss—lichen sclerosus, desquamative inflammatory vaginitis, recurrent BV and yeast infections that won't go away. All three of us left obstetrics years ago and now run gynecology-only practices. And we've all come to the same conclusion: what we learned in training wasn't enough. We were taught not to examine the clitoris. We weren't taught proper vulvar anatomy. We weren't taught how to diagnose or treat the complex cases that show up in our offices every single day. We talk about why there's no one-size-fits-all approach to recurrent infections. We discuss the tests that doctors over-rely on for BV diagnosis that aren't actually accurate. And we share some of the worst medical gaslighting stories we've heard—like telling a PGAD patient "you've been through childbirth, how bad could this be?" We also discuss AI in medicine, why private equity is a problem, and how teaching women proper anatomical language changes outcomes. Highlights:We were all trained in residency not to examine the clitoris, which means many vulvar conditions get missed.Recurrent BV has no one-size-fits-all approach. Some DNA tests only check for Gardnerella and lead to false positives and overtreatment when what works depends on each person's unique microbiome.Don't use one-dose Monistat. It can cause severe inflammatory reactions in the vulva.Some vaginal inflammation doesn't show up on swabs and requires a microscope exam to diagnose properly.Teaching women proper anatomical language (knowing vulva vs. vagina, labia minora vs. majora) actually improves treatment outcomes.Lichen sclerosus is one of the most commonly missed diagnoses because doctors aren't examining the vulva properly. We hope that this episode gave you information that can help you understand that there are clinicians out there that want to help and find answers to your vulvovaginal health concerns. I appreciate everyone who is part of this community, and if you haven't already done so, I would appreciate you subscribing as it helps more women find the show so that they can get the information that they are looking for. Connect with Dr. Fuller: Website Podcast Instagram Facebook Connect with Dr. McIntire Website Instagram Get in Touch with Me: Website Instagram Youtube Substack

    54 min

  7. May 8

    Endometriosis, Pelvic Floor PT, and the Medical Gaslighting That Keeps Women in Pain with Jandra Mueller

    Endometriosis is often talked about as a pelvic disease, but it's actually a systemic inflammatory condition that affects the entire body. And the way we diagnose and treat it is still failing too many patients. In this episode, I sit down with Jandra Mueller, a pelvic floor physical therapist in San Diego and the incoming educational chair for the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health. Jandra specializes in treating patients with endometriosis and has a unique perspective both as a clinician and as someone who went through the diagnostic odyssey herself. Her own experience getting diagnosed drove her to focus on this work. She spent years dealing with symptoms that kept getting dismissed and saw multiple specialists who couldn't figure out what was wrong. Even as a pelvic floor PT working in a hospital-based women's health center with access to specialists, it took years to get the right diagnosis. We discuss why the new guidelines for diagnosing endometriosis are a step forward but still fall short. We talk about the pelvic pentad the association between endometriosis, hypermobility, mast cell activation syndrome, pelvic floor dysfunction, and vestibulodynia. And we get into why fibrotic endometriosis is often overlooked during surgery and what that means for patients who continue to have symptoms after excision. HighlightsDoctors can now start treating endometriosis based on your symptoms without requiring surgery first.Scar tissue from endometriosis is often missed during surgery because it doesn't always show up on the biopsy.Endometriosis often shows up alongside other conditions like hypermobility, mast cell issues, and pelvic pain with sex.Not all surgeons who say they specialize in endometriosis actually have the advanced training needed.If you still have symptoms after surgery, keep pushing for answers—it doesn't mean the pain is in your head.Treating endometriosis with pelvic floor PT means looking at your whole body, not just your pelvis.Pain before bowel movements is a classic endometriosis symptom that often gets overlooked. If you're experiencing symptoms that aren't improving with treatment, don't stop advocating. Finding the right endometriosis specialist matters not all surgeons have the same level of training. Consider working with a pelvic floor physical therapist who understands endometriosis and can look at your whole body, not just your pelvis. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss upcoming episodes. Get in Touch with Dr. Mueller: Website Instagram Get in Touch with Me: Website Instagram Youtube Substack

    55 min

  8. May 1

    Perimenopause, Mental Load, and Why We're Not Going Away with Beth Crosby (Garbage Mom)

    This week we welcome Beth Crosby, aka Garbage Mom, to the show. Beth is an actress, comedian, and content creator. She started creating content during the pandemic as an outlet to connect with other women and share in the perimenopause transition. She now has over 250k subscribers and is the creator of Perimenapalooza™. We talk about her symptoms of perimenopause and how anxiety was one of the worst. We also chat about being in an industry that works last minute and isn't conducive to women being mothers. She shares how she had undiagnosed celiac disease that was causing a lot of issues and dealt with medical gaslighting from doctors until she finally got the right tests to discover what was going on. She also shares why, even though she knew how raw and honest she wanted to be, it's scary to really put everything out there online. And she shares some amazing attention she's getting from her idols—Alanis Morissette commented on her post about Perimenapalooza. She's hilarious, vulnerable, and completely unfiltered about what it's really like navigating perimenopause while trying to keep your career, marriage, and sanity intact. Highlights Gen X is the first generation refusing to accept the status quo whether it's breaking generational trauma or demanding better healthcare.If something feels off, keep going until you find the help you need.Motherhood is a gift but also hard.Vaginal estrogen can make a real difference when sex drive disappears.Freeze your eggs if you're young and unsure about timing.Couples therapy helps navigate the changes perimenopause brings to relationships.Don't accept "it's just your period" as an answer push for help. If you're experiencing symptoms that don't feel right, don't accept "it's just your period" or "this is normal" as an answer. Keep pushing until you find the help you need. Talk to your provider about what's actually happening. If they dismiss you, find someone who will listen. Subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss upcoming episodes. Connect with Beth: Website Instagram Get in Touch with Me: Website Instagram Youtube Substack

    52 min
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About

As a fierce champion for women empowering women (and the people that love them), GynoGirl provides the knowledge and education to help you advocate for yourself so that you can live your best life! Dr. Sameena Rahman curates a space for exploring hormonal changes, sexual health, and pelvic wellness, while also emphasizing self-love and life improvement. Through collaborations with leading experts and the personal stories of patients, she provides a platform for knowledge-sharing while also addressing healthcare issues that have impaired women’s quality of life.  A board-certified, South-Asian Muslim-American gynecologist who specializes in sex medicine and menopause, Dr. Rahman highlights the influence of religion, culture, racial bias, and societal factors on sexual health experiences.

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